1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cat litter sifting device for use with litter which clumps when wetted, allowing for physical removal of the wetted litter along with fecal matter.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Cats can be trained to urinate and defecate in a specially provided litter box filled with absorbent material. The urine soaked litter can be separated from the clean litter with the fecal matter if the litter clumps when it is wetted into agglomerates that are sufficiently large and stable to be removed like feces. Litters that agglomerate when they are wetted are called clumping or scoopable litters.
If the litter is not of the clumping kind, in a few days, the urine odor will become so strong that the entire contents of the litter box must be discarded. On the other hand if the litter clumps so that the urine balls can be removed with the solid waste, the remaining litter need not be discarded. If this is done on a daily basis, the litter box can be kept sweet smelling without wasting litter, resulting in savings to the pet owner.
Some clumping litters form very well defined agglomerates that do not break apart easily. Other scoopable litters, however, form more fragile agglomerates that require very gentle handling to avoid breaking the clumps into fragments, some of which may remain behind leading to the buildup of unpleasant urine odors.
The most common tool for cleaning urine balls and feces from clumping cat litter is a perforated scoop, which when used to dig around a litter box raises a cloud of dust and may become fouled such that it must be washed. The process of scooping the litter and washing the scoop is moderately unpleasant and, while necessary for good litter box hygiene, tends to be put off so that in practice it may not be done on a daily basis.